Читать книгу Resources for Extraordinary Healing: Schizophrenia, Bipolar and Other Serious Mental Illnesses - Emma PhD Bragdon PhD - Страница 2

Resources for

Extraordinary Healing:

Schizophrenia, Bipolar and Other Serious Mental Illnesses

Emma Bragdon, PhD

Copyright 2011 by Lightening Up Press

All Rights Reserved.

Published in eBook format by Lightening Up Press

E-book ISBN: 978-0-9620960-0-6

Website: www.ResourcesforExtraordinaryHealing.com

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

Previous Books by Emma Bragdon, PhD

A Sourcebook for Helping People with Spiritual Problems

The Call of Spiritual Emergency:

From Personal Crisis to Personal Transformation

Spiritual Alliances:

Discovering the Roots of Health at the Casa de Dom Inacio

Kardec’s Spiritism:

A Home for Healing and Spiritual Evolution

Spiritism and Mental Health:

Practices from Spiritist Centers and Spiritist Psychiatric Hospitals in Brazil

_____________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer

The ideas and information contained in this book are for your education only and are not intended as a basis for diagnosis or treatment or a substitute for careful medical evaluation and treatment by a competent, licensed personal healthcare professional. The authors cited in this book do not recommend changing any current medications or adding any new therapies without personally consulting a fully qualified physician. The authors specifically disclaim any liability arising directly or indirectly from information contained herein.

Neither the publisher, editor, authors, nor suppliers make any claim that the information they provided in this book will cure or heal disease. No responsibility is assumed by the publisher, editor, authors or suppliers for any injury and or damage to person or property from any use of any methods, products, instruction or ideas referenced in the materials herein. Any unfinished course of treatment as well as any use of a referral and/or subsequent treatment regimen sought or as a result of buying or reading this book is the sole responsibility of the reader.

Note

The information is current at the time of publication, and is distributed as a courtesy to the public. We intend to make future editions available as new resources become known and information needs to be updated. Although we prefer to use the term “extreme states” instead of “mental illnesses,” which we associate with stigma, we have used the latter term so that the information we publish will be easier to find.

Advance Praise

“Resources for Extraordinary Healing provides a unique, ground-breaking contribution to the treatment of severe psychiatric disorders.

We are undoubtedly in urgent need of an alternative strategy, as the conventional approach sentences patients with serious mental illness to lives unbearably compromised by the treatment of their illnesses. The centerpiece of mainstream psychiatric treatment in 2011 is psychoactive medication that only palliates symptoms. It is often accompanied by such untoward and severe side-effects that patients feel chronically physically ill. With courage and clarity, Emma Bragdon introduces the reader to effective modalities of treatment that are very foreign to the conventional, western, rational "scientific" mind. She sensitively anticipates how the Spiritist philosophy and methodology will strike the ear of a mainstream reader, as the modalities she introduces posit a complete paradigm shift in our thinking about the cause of psychiatric disorder. Dr. Bragdon makes this unfamiliar perspective accessible with simple, clear explanations and moving case histories."

--Judy Tsafrir, MD, on Faculty at Harvard Medical School,

Adult and Child Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst, Newton, MA. USA

“Through dramatic stories Emma Bragdon reveals the wisdom, grace and authentic power in deep spiritual healing and advocates that it needs to be an integral and vital component of recovery from mental illness. The most impressive results come with a compassionate, inclusive and collaborative approach to healing mental illness that is closely integrated with medical and therapeutic practices. This powerful book is a reference and guide for anyone wanting to fully heal from profound emotional disturbances, as well as their families and health providers.”

--Jill Leigh, Founder and Director, Energy Healing Institute, Boston, MA

"Western biopsychiatry has tried to disprove the existence of Spirit, but yet it refuses to go away. The reductionist focus on pure biochemistry and drugs has had devastating effects, producing some of the worst outcomes in the world for mental distress. With this book, Emma Bragdon is pointing us in another direction. When we allow those suffering from mental distress to engage with spiritual realms, in whatever form that takes, then they are able to access their most potent source of healing. Other cultures have figured this out. It's time that we did as well. This is an excellent overview of integrative--and successful--ways of discovering and recovering mental wellness without resorting to brain-altering drugs that may be harmful and numb the soul."

--Mark Foster, DO, family physician and author of the forthcoming book A Ghost in the Machine: Essays from the Front Lines of a Mental Health Revolution

“Resources for Extraordinary Healing is a valuable compendium on integrative approaches for healing from serious mental illnesses, useful for both mental health practitioners as well as those suffering from mental illness. Instead of merely masking symptoms with potent and potentially harmful medications, practitioners and patients who read this book will be encouraged to explore the underlying spiritual imbalances that are often at the root of mental breakdown. The book offers the reader guidance as well as many resources for embarking on a spiritual approach to healing from mental illness. The author, Emma Bragdon, PhD, writes in a style that is concise, yet full of wisdom and compassion. Her depth of knowledge about her subject is apparent throughout the book.”

--Erica Elliott, MD is in private practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has consulted with John of God twice for her personal healing, and she encourages her patients to incorporate some of the methods described in this book to further their healing.

“Bragdon has done an admirable job of pulling together a diverse chorus of voices and resources, all pointing to the shortcomings of the bio-medical model and the need to re-integrate spirituality into treatment and recovery. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn more about the practical application of spirituality to healing from addictions and emotional distress.”

--Leah Harris, MA, Communications and Development Coordinator

The National Empowerment Center

“Having been involved over the past half-century with young students in the USA and abroad, I have seen the huge rise in the use of standardized testing and "therapeutic" drugs to combat so-called learning "disabilities," ADHD, poor social skills, uninspired teaching and basic boredom. Far too often a child and family face various labels and prescribed medicines as the only acceptable option to combat continued failure, confusion, and frustration. This book is the result of well over a decade of international research, scholarship and personal anecdotes regarding other kinds of evaluations and methods to facilitate emotional balance. It lends deep insight into the effectiveness of approaches and treatments well known to most of the older cultures of the world and is a handy resource book for a vast array of available social service agencies. This book can save lives. It has much to offer our modern world of education.”

--Kent Ferguson, Co-Founder and Headmaster, Santa Barbara Middle School;

Co-Founder and Headmaster, The School Down Under (New Zealand);

Trustee; consultant; advisor to various public and independent alternative, progressive, Waldorf, Montessori, and therapeutic schools.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to helping all those who suffer with mental illness and yearn for mental health.

Acknowledgements

Grateful acknowledgement to the authors and publishers who allowed us to quote from their published works and the photographer Karen Leffler, who contributed photos:

Karen Leffler Photography, www.johnofgodphotos.com

Singing Dragon Press, for excerpts from Spiritism and Mental Health, ed. by Emma Bragdon, 2012.

NIMH, for excerpts from the “Final National Institute of Mental Health Report: Grants Number R12MH 20123 and R124H 25570,” prepared by L. Mosher, R. Valone, and A. Menn.

Author: Richard A. Kunin, MD for excerpts from “Principles That Identify Orthomolecular Medicine: A Unique Medical Specialty.”

Author: Andrew Feldmar, PhD for excerpt of “Minute Particulars,” previously published in the newsletter “In a Nutshell.”

Author: Susan Musante for excerpts from “Business Plan for Start Up and Sustainability Submitted to the Alaska Mental Health Trust for FY 2008 and FY 2009: Soteria-Alaska: An Alternative to Hospitalization for People Diagnosed with Serious Mental Illness.”

Peter Lehmann Publishing for excerpt of Judy Chamberlain’s “Preface” to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs (2004).

The authors who have contributed to this book are extraordinary people who are pioneers in the arena of integrative health. I feel blessed to know them and collaborate with them, and am happy to provide a vehicle through which their work can become more well-known.

Deep gratitude to those who contributed stories of serious mental illness and the loved ones and practitioners who are part of their stories. Through your experiences, I trust others will be helped. May you all have everything you need to find balance in this life.

The great choreographer has led me to meet people from all continents of the world, to help me rise above the cultural constraints of my birthplace, North America, and broaden my perspectives. I am very grateful to all the people I have met who have contributed their viewpoints, skill and knowledge. I am especially grateful to the people I have enjoyed in Brazil who continue to help me explore the resources of Spiritism, and those in the USA who encourage me to bring back to my homeland what I have learned abroad. Special thanks in that regard go to Leah Harris at the National Empowerment Center, Mark Foster, DO, Toni Merrick, Gina Starr, Logan Roth, Kent Ferguson, and Laura Delano. My copyeditor, Leonard Rosenbaum, is an angel.

About the photo on the cover: We’ve come a long way since Herman Melville published Moby Dick in 1851, romanticizing the fierce hunt for whales, to dominate and butcher the beasts and render their oil as a source of energy and light. One hundred and fifty years ago, whales were the enemy, feared because of their size and their physical potential to wreck whole ships, sending crew and captain to their deaths.

Today, we recognize the gentleness of whales, and we can sometimes make benign and quite extraordinary connections with them. The photo on the cover of Marco Queral snapped by an unidentified fellow diver came to me in an email with the story of a 50-ton humpback whale that had been caught up in nylon crab trap lines that immobilized her at the entrance of San Francisco’s Bay in 2005. Divers went out to carefully cut her free, swimming close to her in the water, often touching her. Afterwards, the whale swam to each diver and made contact, seemingly to express her gratitude, before she swam away to her freedom. The diver who cut her head free, James Moskito, said, “the whale had her eye on me the whole time, watching, as if grateful. I will never be the same.”

Not long ago, we also held spirituality at arm’s length, as well. We wanted to make use of the power of the Spirit, and we supplicated so that our prayers would be answered. We were taught to fear the power of the Spirit. We were taught about the judgmental nature of God and about God’s capacity to punish us for our sins. Priests were given the authority to mediate between us and Spirit--as if Spirit was too vast and powerful to connect with personally. Fearing the power of Spirit, we even treated those who said they personally talked to God as crazy. Their reports of contact were at least “blasphemy,” as most believed no one could talk to God but Christ or, possibly, one of his apostles. Earlier in our history, during the Inquisition, as the Christian Church was positioning itself to be dominant in legal and spiritual affairs, millions who claimed they had a personal relationship to the Spirit were killed in public--burned at the stake or drowned. This reinforced the idea that only those endorsed by the Holy Mother Church Fathers could have the privilege of a personal relationship with God.

Currently, research scientists have shown that those who can personally move into and sustain transcendent consciousness--feeling the presence of God, angels and higher beings—are the ones most likely to experience extraordinary healing, also called “spontaneous remission.” This is how to disrupt the hold of illness, recall our innate intelligence, and recover balance.

We start by developing a personal relationship with the spiritual realms, whatever that means to each one of us. Prayer, yoga, meditation are all avenues. The attitudinal steps are to nurture forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, and appreciation for life. They help us recover both meaning and purpose.

Notice in the photo--that love and a desire for kindly connection have replaced fear.

Want to know more? The film Whale Rider explores the beliefs of the Maori of New Zealand, who respect the whale as an elder, a guide, and a deeply spiritual entity.